Barcelona are preparing a hefty £50m package to tempt Chelsea into allowing them to sign Willian, comprised of “their unsettled winger Malcom and a sizable fee”, according to the Mirror. It is not the first time that Catalan side have been linked with the twinkle-toed Brazilian but with the player now 18 months away from a free transfer and seven months away from turning 31 this could be the moment they get their man. “Yet with Malcom failing to impress in La Liga,” the Mirror continues, “Chelsea could decide they are not interested in him and may feel £50m is not enough for Willian.” That certainly seems the more likely conclusion to the story at the moment, with the Telegraph saying Chelsea have already rejected the offer. “Chelsea regard Willian as a key member of their squad and are looking to strengthen during the window rather than let first-team regulars go,” they sniff.

The hum around Alvaro Morata continues. With Chelsea keen to bolster their forward line, Maurizio Sarri is said to be ready to cast Morata off into the Spanish sunset, with Atlético Madrid joining Sevilla in the race to land the striker. Morata’s £140,000-a-week salary could be taken off the books if they can ship him out on loan this month, freeing up funds to make a swoop for Callum Wilson or Gonzalo Higua?n, though Bournemouth will command around £50m for the former. If that figure makes you feel faint, then wait to hear of the dizzying sums of cash that Real Madrid are prepared to flutter in the direction of Napoli for their defender Kalidou Koulibaly. The European champions are mulling over splurging £90m on the Senegal defender, the kind of money they hope will blow Manchester United – another interested party – out of the water. Liverpool are also keen to strengthen at the back but are likely to baulk at the £50m price tag Burnley have slapped on the centre-half James Tarkowski; that’s effectively two-thirds of Virgil van Dijk. And Tottenham Hotspur are sniffing around a ball-playing defender too, with Sampdoria’s great Dane, Joachim Andersen, a target should Toby Alderweireld wander on to pastures new.

Arsenal, meanwhile, fancy the idea of luring Yannick Carrasco away from China for a stint in north London, while Unai Emery is also weighing up a move for the Porto midfielder Héctor Herrera as a replacement for the Turin-bound Aaron Ramsey. Elsewhere, Newcastle are keen on Trabzonspor’s Abdulkadir Omur and Andy Carroll is desperate to extend his stay at West Ham, while Cardiff are still eyeing up the Nantes forward Emiliano Sala, though are reluctant to cough up £20m.Blackburn, Brentford and Hull are forming an orderly queue to take Ben Woodburn on loan, with the 19-year-old winger set to be recalled from Sheffield United by his parent club, Liverpool. Also in the Championship, Wigan have given Sunderland the green light to sign Will Grigg, who has scored only once in the league since August. And keen to put out fires at the other end are Nottingham Forest, who are ready to snap up the Leicester goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic on loan until the end of the season.

Marko Arnautovic’s brother, Danijel, has revealed that the player desperately wants to move to China immediately. “West Ham bought Marko for peanuts. Now they have a fantastic offer,” he said. “It is his great desire that West Ham accept the offer from China.” West Ham however are “refusing to be bullied”, according to the Sun, and plan to hold him to his lengthy current deal. The Hammers are also keen to sign Jonjo Shelvey, even if – according to the Mail – they face “fierce resistance” from his current club, Newcastle. “Manuel Pellegrini admires Shelvey and would jump at the possibility of bringing him to the London Stadium,” they report, but “Newcastle boss Rafa Ben?tez would not sanction the sale unless he was able to bring in a suitable replacement.” Whether Paris Saint-Germain’s Christopher Nkunku, a 21-year-old midfielder with whom they are linked today – along with his 19-year-old defensive teammate Stanley Nsoki – counts is unknown.

Rumours that Arsenal are about to sign Yannick Carrasco for £25m are wide of the mark, says Unai Emery. “We can’t pay for anyone,” he said. “We cannot sign anyone permanently. We can only sign loan players.” Emery also gave gnomic updates on a couple of persistent rumours, concerning the Sevilla midfielder Ever Banega (“I know this player and he is a very good player. I cannot tell you more.”) and Barcelona’s Denis Suarez (“I know the club is working on possibilities of which players help us with big performances like we need now.”). Watford have approached Lyon to discuss a potential move for the 22-year-old French winger Maxwel Cornet, author of three Champions League goals against Manchester City this season but with just one league start to his name, having been “alerted to his availability”, according to the Independent. He would cost, according to the Sun, around £20m and is also being pursued by Milan.

Also linked with a move from France to the Premier League this morning is Emiliano Sala, whose £18m switch to Cardiff could be back on “after the Argentinian intimated he would be keen to join”, says the Mail. Back to Watford, meanwhile, as Roberto Pereyra’s agent claims that Chelsea are interested in snapping up the Watford wide man, though they face competition from Torino. “Mazzarri likes him,” he said, referring to the Torino manager, “but so does Sarri.” Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham are all keen on Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi, whose season-long loan to Valencia has been cut short because he’s not very good. All three clubs would hope to sign him on a similarly temporary arrangement, and the Mail adds West Ham and Galatasaray to the mix for good measure. Leicester have rejected an offer from Huddersfield for Shinji Okazaki. QPR want £10m for the midfielder Eberechi Eze, with Bournemouth, Brighton and Crystal Palace interested. Everton are preparing a £15m bid for Southampton’s Portuguese full-back Cedric. Josh Bohui, a 19-year-old forward who has shown such promise in the Manchester United youth system that, according to the mirror, he “has been dubbed the new Andy Cole”, might leave when his contract expires in the summer, with Barcelona and Monaco showing interest

The very last thing a new supervisor needs would be to walk to a divisive debate between the club and its expensive purchase. José Mourinho’s adversarial custom of picking fights with key members of staff isn’t appropriate for everybody and his replacement is going to need to figure out immediately if the United dressing area is a joyful location. It has often been suggested that Pogo’s apparent restlessness is right down to a personality clash with the supervisor, in the event the atmosphere ought to be cleared today and United can, in theory, find themselves practically using a brand new player in their hands. On the other hand it’s likely that Pogo needs away no matter, which would allow it to be sensible to sell in January and attempt to regain at least a few of their club’s losses. Yoga has seldom been observed at his exciting finest because rejoining United for #89m at 2016. It may be a struggle too much, amid all of the other challenges confronting the upcoming permanent United supervisor, to regain a embarrassing relationship in this late period.

Mourinho spent all the last year moaning about his club inactivity or indecisiveness from the transport market. The club didn’t do so much moaning but let it be understood that they’d given their supervisor adequate funding, and it was no one’s fault but Mourinho’s when the players he’d earned at considerable cost were no longer considered appropriate. There’s some merit on either side of the debate, even though it’s a very long way in the template which attracted United success. In the subsequent decades of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, all of the big decisions over scouting and participant recruitment went through precisely the exact same office and were thoroughly checked and ratified with a bona fide soccer expert with a life’s expertise in professional soccer, Ferguson himself. Little miracle United are discovering that degree of know how and hands on expertise difficult to replace but it’s been clear for a while that Ed Woodward and his supervisor of this moment aren’t the solution. After Pep Guardiola is requested concerning recruitment, he smiles and says it’s from his hands, secure in the knowledge that when he requested three full-backs they arrived to purchase. United might never have the ability to match that cost or efficacy, but any type of transport goodwill could be an improvement on what’s currently random. judi bola terbaik

This could come as a jolt to United and their fans, but things have moved on as the time once the all-conquering Reds could scoop from the top players with little over a telephone call and a guaranteed pay increase. United have invested the post-Ferguson years not knowing that path to pursue. Their three supervisors since 2013 are quite different, as are their various recruitment policies. Potentially the most prosperous piece of company United have ran since Ferguson resigned was paying over the odds for Marouane Fellini, that wasn’t something anybody was saying or calling at the moment. Self-evidently that’s not a recipe for progress or success, and it includes the extra disadvantage of being exceptionally and wastefully expensive. United must be skeptical of a supervisor demanding just ready-made players, since experience has proven that the very best ones move everywhere. For possibly the first time because Ferguson retired United should heed one of the catchphrases and correctly begin searching for value on the industry.

Then De Gea will likely review his choices and who can blame him? After all of the money United have invested, can it actually be that they’re persisting with Ashley Young in left-back? Mourinho was fond of accusing City of purchasing four full-backs simultaneously to illustrate the form of fiscal might he had been against, however, it isn’t all about cash. Joe Royle referred to this bargain for a robbery for many years later, but Ferguson not only knew something about soccer economics, but he also understood how to put a group together. Mourinho was stated to have independently felt the United squad wasn’t great enough, the training ground wasn’t great enough along with the club’s ambition and drive concerning possession and direction left lots to be desired also. Plainly Manchester wasn’t good enough , because Mourinho would just commit to living from a resort. All of making it seem the north-west of England is some kind of hell-hole and a supervisor would need to be desperate to accept a beached whale of a club such as United. Not one of that happens to be authentic. United might never have the ability to outspend City however there’s not any explanation as to why they ought to find themselves overtaken by Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. It occurs — it’s happened to United earlier — but with all the right, positive mindset along with a thoughtful acknowledgment of this club’s new location in the total scheme of things the scenario could be recovered. A little humility is required, in other words, not only on the area of the supervisor but also from the service base. The team has got some work to do and the benefits may not be instantaneous. The glorious past is simply that for the near future.